Shinobi Gaiden
by Animeniak
Summary: Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past. When S-Rank missing-nin, Itami, believes he has let go of his past, he receives a summons from the Fourth Kazekage that he has to return to the Sand Village. But this threatens to reopen old wounds and disrupt the foundation of the entire Ninja World. Rated T.


**Shinobi Gaiden**

Chapter 1: Return to Sunagakure

'Sup guys? Man it's been months since I last updated any of my stories, September was the last time I wrote a single word. I've been suffering from a major lack of motivation and a bad case of writers block. And to be honest I was contemplating giving up writing, but I still have a few ideas in me. Like this story for example.

This is my first Naruto fan fic. It's set 5 years before the Nine-Tailed Fox attacks Konoha. This fic will be strictly OC but canon characters will definitely be making a few cameo appearances. Also, I won't be including any honorific's in this story apart from the English ones (Lord, Master, Miss, those type of stuff).  
Also, I'm under the impression that there is an unlimited amount of jutsu in the Naruto universe, Orochimaru also alluded to this in one episode. So I will be creating my own jutsu and Kekkei Genkai, while borrowing several from filler and canon episodes. Also, I'll be creating my own Hidden Villages.

So, let's go…

**000**

Yowai drained the last of the saké that was in his saucer and smacked his lips in satisfaction as the liquid made its way down his gullet, inebriating the rogue shinobi even more. He grinned at the other six ninja who sitting with him at the booth.

He lifted the bottle of sake in the air, "A toast!" Yowai exclaimed. "To a heist well done, bottoms up!"

He downed the entire bottle of alcohol in one gulp and let out a load burp, much to the jubilation of his comrades.

"Slow down there, Yowai," said, Nibui, his comrade who sat next to him at the booth. "An intoxicated ninja is just as worthless… as a blunt kunai…"

Yowai eyed the older ninja suspiciously while stroking the grey stubble that grew on his chin, "You should take your own advice sometimes," he observed Nibui's red cheeks, drowsy eyes and slurred speech, the tell-tale signs of someone who is smashed.

The group of ninja burst into laughter and downed another round of alcohol, indulging themselves in the spoils of a successful heist.

Orokana placed his sheathed katana on the table. "So," he spoke while ruffling his messy mop of blonde hair. "What place we hitting tonight?"

"I heard a group of Sand ninja are scheduled to export gold dust to the Stone Village," said Baichi, the larger one in the group. "We can intercept them and ransack the stash."

"For once you actually came up with a good idea, Baichi" mocked Hozoki, a missing-nin from the Hidden Cloud Village.

Yowai took a sip of sake before speaking, "I say we go big this time!" He exclaimed. "We hit the Land of Waves; I heard that, Gato is hiring rogue ninja for his own purposes"

"No way!" Zakiri shouted. He opened his pouch took out a kunai by the hilt and stabbed it on the table for added effect. "We do not work for other people and their devious purposes!"

He glared at his comrades, froth forming at the corners of his mouth. "Especially not for a swine such as Gato…"

"Hear, hear!" toasted Orokana holding up a bottle of sake.

"We work only for the goal of this group!" Baichi shouted raising his bottle.

The rest of the ninja followed suit and cheered, downing their drinks. They were the only six people in the bar, it was small and intimate, matching perfectly to their preferences.

Tensai, the barman, observed the rowdy group of ninja while polishing the counter. He watched in disgust as they repulsively drank their alcohol and smoked tobacco. They were a group of cowardly missing-nin from the Sand Village, except for Hozoki who hailed from the Cloud Village.

This bar, one of the few in Sunagakure, was their favourite hangout spots. They would come here to celebrate committing crimes, or come here to "strategize". As much as he hated them, they were paying customers… well, most of the time.

The wooden doors parted ways, bringing in a gust of dry wind. Light seeped from behind the person who entered the bar; Tensai could only see a silhouette of a short muscular male.

Tensai observed him as he steadily walked to the counter on his heels, portraying confidence with every step he took. He has chiselled muscular feature; tanned skinned presumably from spending too much time in the sun, common among people in the Sand Village; spiky black hair that matched the colour of his eyes.

He had a beige scarf covering the lower part of his face, only exposing his eyes. The man was a shinobi, judging from the sword that was attached to his back and the pouches on his hip and right thy.

But what caught Tensai's attention was that he did not wear a Forehead Protector, instead, a red headband. Tensai had never seen him around the Sand before.

As he walked by the group, Yowai tried to incite eye contact with the shinobi but the shinobi continued to walk to the counter. Yowai noticed a leather pouch hanging from his belt, where his money was kept.

Nibui elbowed Yowai in the ribs, Yowai grinned. "Gentlemen," he spoke to the group. "Let me show you how a robbery is committed."

He slurped his alcohol in a composed fashion and stood up.

The shinobi sat silently sat on a stool in front of the wooden counter. His blank stare commanded the attention of the barman.

"Aye, what will we be having today?" asked Tensai.

"Just water," the shinobi replied in a raspy voice tone.

"Comin' up," said the barman and served the shinobi with a glass of ice cold water. The shinobi took off his fingerless gloves and held the glass in his hand. Tensai scrutinized the shinobi, he looked like he had travelled over long distances, and he certainly never saw him in the Sand Village before.

"So, what brings you to the Hidden Sand?"

"I got some business to take care of."

"What kind?" asked Tensai, curiously looking at the stranger.

"The kind that is none of _your_ business,"

Tensai took that as his cue to stay quiet; he already asked the shinobi enough as it is. He kept himself busy by polishing his workplace. He silently inspected the shinobi who had barely touched his glass of water the entire time, just staring at it deep in thought.

Yowai slammed his hand on the timber counter commanding the attention of the barman. "Hey, Oldman!" Yowai hiccupped. "Get u-us some more dr... drinkshh…"

Yowai awkwardly learned in until he was an inch away from the shinobi's face. The shinobi sat undisturbed at the counter, still deep in thought.

"Shhoo…" the inebriated ninja spoke. "What brings you too the Shhand Village?"

No response.

Yowai noticed that the shinobi's red headband was not coloured or dyed that colour but it was stained… with blood! Also this man, he seemed very familiar.

"I like your shwoord, you a ninja?"

Still, no response.

Yowai eyed the man's leather pouch; it looked crammed with cash from his position.

The criminal licked his lips and casually as he could, he reached for the pouch ready to tug it swiftly from the man's belt without him even noticing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" the shinobi reacted.

Yowai chuckled, "I see you've got a good eye, mate."

The rogue ninja raised his hand patted the shinobi on the back with more force than necessary. "You could make an exceptional member of our squad."

"Don't… don't _ever _do that again!"

"Or what!?" Yowai retorted.

"I'll have to kill you…"

"Just who do you think you are!?" Yowai shouted. "No one talks to me like _that_!"

In one fast motion, Yowai ripped the scarf off of the shinobi.

The expression changed on Yowai's face instantly. "I-It's… you…"

Yowai stared at the shinobi in shock. Spiky black hair, black eyes, scar on right cheek… blood soaked headband…

This man was none other the infamous S-Rank missing-nin, known as the Desert Bandit, the Ghost of Sunagakure…

His name was synonymous among the rogue ninja from all over the ninja world. His actions are respected and despised among many. He was excommunicated from the Akatsuki Organization and he is number one on the ANBU Black Ops' Bingo Book, who he had managed to evade on many occasions. He was the most feared shinobi to ever step foot in the Sand Village.

"…Itami of the Sand!"

Itami smirked, "So you know my name?"

Yowai drew his kunai instantly, raising it to defend himself. "You got that correct," Yowai spat. "I also know that there is a bounty on your head worth 2 Million Ryō!"

Itami sat unfazed, just staring at his glass of water. "Is that so?"

"Fellas!" Yowai called out to his comrades. "Guess who I just ran into, the Desert Bandit himself!"

All six rogue ninja looked looked at Itami in shock, then they drew their weapons and surrounded Itami.

"Hehe," Orokana chuckled as he gripped his katana blade. "I can smell the money already."

"We've got you cornered," Baichi cracked his knuckles. "You ain't gonna escape us!"

Tensai watched in horror, he almost felt sorry for the young man. He was about to witness a murder right here in his bar. He was scared stiff as the six men all readied their weapons to attack.

Itami didn't seem the least bit worried; he calmly observed the six ninja who enclosed him. He shook his head and outright ignored them.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?" Nibui pressed.

"Yes, I actually, I am," Itami replied.

"And that would be?"

"Goodluck…"

"Shut up!" Yowai leaped at Itami and got ready to punch him in the jaw, but with a lot of ease, Itami caught his fist with his left hand and punched the rogue ninja on the nose, an audible _crack _could be heard.

Yowai felt a piercing pain on the bridge of his nose and he clutched it as blood seeped out of his nostrils. "_No! No! No!"_ he screamed. "You broke my nose!"

Itami sniggered at the site of the nose of the rogue ninja, hi nose was bent in an angle it should was not meant to be in. "It could've been worse."

"Keep up your guard!"

Behind Itami, Orokana held his blade in a reverse grip and prepared to bring it down on the Desert Bandit. Itami simply jerked to the left and the katana pierced the wooden counter.

Itami took advantage of this opening and elbowed the ninja in the gut, knocking the wind out of his sails.

"I did not forget about any of you," Itami said in his low husky voice.

Hozoki leapt at Itami from the right with kunai knife drawn but the man known as the Desert Bandit leaned to the back and easily avoided the kunai jab, clutched the Kumogakure ninja's right arm. Itami elbowed the ninja on his throat.

In the very next moment, Nibui leapt in from the left but without much thinking, Itami balled his fist and he striked Nibui in the groin.

Suddenly, the Desert Bandit felt a pair of muscular hands wrap themselves around him and put him in a bear hug. Itami cocked his head to the back and hit Baichi in the face. The bigger ninja flew to the back.

Zakiri charged at Itami but the Desert Bandit gracefully moved out of the way, he held onto Zakiri's head and smashed the ninja's head on the table.

Tensai's legs were shaking subconsciously; this man had the dexterity of a Kage. He was cool and calm in approach, almost as if it's second nature to him.

Itami shook his head and took a sip of water.

"You son of a bitch!" shouted Yowai as he charged Itami. The Ghost of Sunagakure pulled the stool out from under him and bashed it over Yowai's head, knocking him out.

Orokana rushed in on Itami but with great agility Itami jumped up and kneed Orokana in the jaw with his right knee. In the same motion, he twisted around round house kicked Orokana in the side of the head. The force behind the blow sent Orokana flying into a booth, wrecking it.

Itami landed on the ground, he turned around just in to see Zakiri flying in with a dropkick. Itami grabbed Zakiri's legs and used the momentum to spin him around. The Desert Bandit kept twisting Zakiri around and around gathering momentum.

"Now fly!"

When Itami finally released Zakiri, the ninja was sent reeling towards Tensai. The barman intuitively ducked and Zakiri crashed into the several bottles of liquor stacked together behind Tensai. Upon impact the stack exploded into a sea of alcohol and shards of glass. The barman was completely drenched in liquor.

Nibui flung his right hand and six kunai knives sliced the air, aiming for Itami's back. The Desert Bandit displayed astounding agility as he performed a picture perfect somersault to dodge the ninja weapons.

While still upside down in the air facing Nibui, the Desert Bandit hurled two sharp shuriken at him. It whistled through the air. Nibui managed to successfully deflect the two stars with his kunai. As soon as Itami landed on the floor, Nibui rushed in rapidly and stabbed the tip of his knife into Itami's back.

"Hehehe," Nibui chuckled. "Seems like you not as legendary as the stories proclaim."

But, as if to prove him wrong, Itami dispersed in a cloud of white smoke.

"What!?" he shouted looking surprised. "A Shadow Clone!?"

Nibui looked around the tavern; there was no sign of the Desert Bandit.

"Up here," came a voice from above. Nibui looked up at the source and saw Itami standing upside down on the ceiling of the bar. His arms were crossed and the corners of his mouth were raised in a grin.

"Are you mocking me!?" Nibui yelled out in frustration. He searched for a kunai in his pouch and flung several of them in Itami's direction.

Itami just stood upside down with his arms crossed, without a care in the world despite several kunai knives aiming directly for him. Shockingly, all the knives simply went straight through his body—without even hurting him!

"What the—"

Itami started to gradually fade away from view. He reappeared behind Nibui and chopped the rogue ninja on the shoulder with his hand, hitting a pressure point.

Nibui's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Baichi charged Itami and released a flurry of punches which the Desert Bandit dodged.

Itami caught Baichi's gigantic hand with his right palm, Itami looked at the bigger ninja in the eyes and grinned sadistically, suddenly, Itami twisted Baichi's wrist in one clean motion.

_Snap!_

"Arrrrggghhhh!" Baichi screamed in agony and gripped his severely sprained wrist. He fell to his knees as the tears streamed down his cheeks, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Itami cringed as Baichi was screaming, he then punt kicked the bigger ninja in the side of the skull, knocking him out cold.

An eerie silence settled in the bar, Itami surveyed the damage he had caused. Bodies, kunai knives, and broken furniture were strewn around the bar.

Tensai found himself holding his breath, his hands and knees were trembling at the mere sight of the man. He had taken down six powerful rogue ninja on his own without even breaking a sweat.

Itami put on his fingerless gloves that stretched up all the way to his elbows; it was only when he went to pick up his scarf that he noticed the barman cowering behind the counter.

"Err… Sorry for the mess," Itami said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "I swear I'll make it up to you, some day."

Tensai was still in awe at the shinobi's capabilities, "I-it's… al—okay…"

"Good,"

Itami covered the lower portion of his face with his scarf and left the tavern.

Tensai was still staring at the spot in which the shinobi stood, his jaw hung open in shock. This guy was simply, amazing…

Tensai's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the back hitting the ground hard, fainted.

**000**

The strong dusty wind hit Itami as soon as he stepped foot out of the bar. The wind was bracing and the little grains of sand seemed to hit him with force obstructing his view a little, just another day in Sunagakure.

Itami walked the dusty streets, life was seemingly normal in the Sand. He sighed, it certainly looked like that.

People living in poverty, trying to make ends meet. Whether it was stealing fruit or materialistic objects which they could sell just to get a few Ryōs, the streets were hustling and bustling with little kids running and hawkers selling things way beyond their sell-by date.

Every eye fell on Itami as he silently walked by paying no attention to them. Some people who recognised him closed their doors and hid their merchandise as he walked by, the others who didn't simply kept their distance from the missing-nin.

Itami could hear them whispering and murmuring, but he paid no attention or—to put it bluntly—didn't care.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"No way, it can't be, what would he be doing in the Sand?"

"I heard the ANBU and Akatsuki are hunting him down."

"Really? I heard there is a bounty on his head."

Of course, even if the villagers tried to claim the bounty they would fail, so they were better off just not trying that all. He was after all an S-Rank missing-nin who was once part of the Akatsuki, and he is highly ranked on the ANBU's Bingo Book with orders to execute him on sight.

The village itself was is surrounded by cliffs of rock that serves as a defence against enemy attacks. Inside, the buildings are made with up of clay and stucco to provide natural cooling against the harsh desert temperatures. In the middle of the village a spherical structure was built in which the Fourth Kazekage resides.

"Itami!" a voice came from behind the Desert Bandit. "Itami, over here!"

Itami turned towards the source and breaking in between the crowd was a teenage boy about the age of sixteen. Blue spiky hair, big blue eyes, and black flak jacket with black shorts to match, underneath the flak jacket the boy wore a fishnet shirt and white armbands covered his skinny forearms. Looking like a street kid—which he was.

"Takumi?" Itami raised his voice in surprise.

The young boy ran up to Itami with a big smile on his face. "I can't believe it!" Takumi said in grinning from ear to ear at the sight of his idol. "You're back!"

Itami smiled under his scarf, this boy reminded Itami so much of himself when he was younger. No parents, no home, living in the streets of the Sand as a thief, outlawed from the rest of the village. "It has been quite a while hasn't it?"

"So, what have you brought for me? Why are you here, are you gonna stay for a while? Have you come to take me wi—"

"Slow down, I have come to do none of the sort,"

"Then, why are you here?" Takumi asked inquisitively.

"I got a letter from the Kazekage stating that he wants to meet with me."

"Really" asked the teenager, dumbfounded. "For what reason?"

"I do not know,"

"Do you have an idea what it is about?"

"No,"

"Don't you think it's strange?"

"No"

"Haven't you at least considered it to be a trap?"

"Not really,"

To be honest, the thought had crossed Itami's mind that this might e a trap orchestrated by the Fourth Kazekage to capture The Ghost of Sunagakure once and for all. For all Itami knew, ANBU shinobi could be waiting behind the scenes, preparing to strike at this very moment. But there was something in the way the Kazekage wrote the letter that caused Itami to think differently.

The writing was sloppy, not coded as if he wrote it in haste. It was the Fourth's handwriting, no doubt about it.

The two continued walking down the rocky road that lead to the Kazekage's building, Itami stayed silent while Takumi recalled everything that happened while he was gone.

Itami stopped as he caught sight of "the Drains" which snapped Takumi out of recalling the time he stole two loafs of bread from Jonin ninja. The Drains was a slum in the Sand Village where street children would come just to have a place to sleep for the night.

It consisted of giant sewage pipes stacked on top of each other in pyramid form, children would seek asylum in these pipes. When he was younger, this place was called home; this place is what transformed him in into the man he was today.

It made him sad to see that children still lived in this mess, having no home or orphanage to go to. _Has the Kazekage still not fixed this village!?_

Itami felt something tug on his belt and he spun around, ready to give whoever a massive punch to the jaw. But it was… just a kid.

The boy was about the age of seven or eight. Judging from the dirty clothes, dirty face and wild mop of hair, the kid was lived in the Drains.

The boy held out both of grimy hands "Please, mister, do at least have a slice of bread to spare, I have no parents and no home."

Itami reached for his leather pouch and took out a few coins, he handed it to the little boy. "And share that with your friends."

"I will, thank you!" said the boy as he ran to his group of friends; they all looked the coins in awe.

"Many of these kids want to be like you when they grow up," said Takumi.

"Huh? Like me?" Itami asked. "Why?"

"Because… you were able to make something out of nothing," He explained. "You grew up in exactly the same conditions as they were, they wanna be like you because… you give them hope, Itami."

Itami was stunned, he did not consider himself a role model, for heaven's sake he was a criminal, an S-Rank missing-nin. He did not wish his bad fortune onto these kids. They could become so much greater than he was.

Is this what one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations had been downgraded to? He put down a mental note to bring this up with the Kazekage in his meeting.

"As you can see for yourself" said Takumi breaking Itami's train of thought "the village is still suffering from the effects of the Second and Third Shinobi War."

"Is that so?"

"The people are on the verge of a revolt especially if the Fourth Kazekage doesn't do something soon, a civil war threatens to break out."

Itami shook his head, "The Kazekage is incompetent, only thinking about himself, if his happy then he couldn't care about the well being of the village."

"That is why I'm going to become Kazekage one day!" Takumi shouted. "I may be weak but I'm going to change the circumstances in this village and the Sand will flourish under my reign!"

Itami was a little taken aback by the will of this young boy despite not even being an academy student he had more drive and determination than any shinobi in this village. In fact, having not had any formal education Takumi was surprisingly smart for his age; he was a real tactician and a problem solver.

Takumi balled his fists; Itami patted the teenager on his head. "Well then, Takumi," he grinned once again under his scarf. "I believe in you."

Takumi stood in shock, no one had ever displayed that much belief in him before, even though it was just three words it meant the world to the teenage boy.

"There he is!" a gruff voice from behind the pair shouted.

Itami turned around, "Not these clowns again."

The same six men that he managed to incapacitate at the tavern earlier now stood there in front of him. Behind the six rogue ninja stood dozens of other missing-nin, each with different weapons in their possession.

Takumi was spooked at the sight, big burly men,—each with axes, grates, swords and kunai—stood before him ready to pounce.

"I told you he is here!" shouted Yowai, whose nose was still fractured, behind two broad-shouldered ninja. "If we kill him right here, right now, we each get a cut of the bounty that is on his head."

The ninja all roared, already celebrating their victory. But Itami stood unfazed, staring them all down. The wind rustled his spiky black hair.

"Takumi, stand back," He turned to face the teenager with a smile. "I got this."

Itami removed his scarf, there was no use keeping it on since everyone knew who he was by now. Takumi jumped on the roof of a nearby building to get a better view of the action.

"Okay, whose first!?"

The group of rogue ninja all roared as they scampered full speed at Itami. "Everyone I guess,"

Itami dashed at the closest ninja and super kicked him in the chin causing him to fly quite a distance away. The next unlucky ninja got a roundhouse kick to the solar plexus.

One ninja tried to stab Itami with his curved kunai but Itami dodged all the strikes and kicked the ninja in the chin. The ninja's head snapped up and spittle escaped from his lips. Itami kicked the ninja in the throat.

Two ninja came flying in from either side of the Desert Bandit with their legs stretched out ready to kick Itami. But the Desert Bandit grabbed both of their legs and spun them around before releasing them.

Several kunai and shuriken whizzed through the air directing towards him but Itami just placed his palm on the ground and a wall of sand appeared in front of him, cushioning the weapon attacks as it hit.

The wall of sand fell then Itami performed a series of hand seals "Wind Style: Senbon Wind Strike Jutsu!"

The Desert Bandit inhaled a breath of fresh air and his chest inflated. He exhaled and blew out a strong wind that caused several of the ninja to cover their faces; it was because of this that they didn't see the incoming senbon.

Several of the sharp needless pierced the bodies of the closet ninja. It protruded from their bodies making them look like human porcupines.

A ninja with a gigantic sword ran up to Itami, dragging the blade with him.

"Take this!"

The raised the unwieldy sword ready to attack, when he brought down the sword Itami somersaulted to the back to avoid the strike. The ninja missed and the blade got embedded into the ground.

Itami actually ran up the side of the blade and kicked the ninja in his face. He leaped up into the air and quickly executed a series of hand signs.

"Earth Style: Quicksand Jutsu!"

As soon as the Desert Bandit landed, he placed both his palms on the ground. The ground beneath the shinobi who stood ahead of him softened, and they were suddenly sucked into the ground.

As soon as they were waist deep in the earth Itami poured his chakra into the ground via his palms, hardening the minerals of the soil. The ninja were all now stuck waist deep in the ground.

"This guy is something else!"

"There's no way we can get him!"

"I'm outta here guys!"

All the remaining ninja dropped their weapons to the ground and scattered, getting as far away as possible.

Takumi watched in shock as his idol took down an entire group of rogue ninja on his own, he really was invincible. Takumi wanted to be strong like Itami when he grows up, definitely.

Takumi landed on the ground, "I can't believe it! You took them out without even breaking a sweat, you were awesome, and I can't believe how easily you did that. Can you teach me that? They were like _ka-pow _and you were like _ka-boom_! That was incredi—"

Itami raised his hand up to silence the teenager. "You've got much to learn."

"B-but will you teach me then!?"

"Not now, Takumi,"

Itami continued walking to his destination, with Takumi walking behind him begging for Itami to teach him a jutsu.

"Please, please, please teach me," he pleaded. "Just _one_ jutsu, please!"

Itami ignored the boy and continued walking.

Perched high up on a building, out of sight to both Itami and Takumi was a kunoichi. She had long red hair and fiery red eyes with pale skin. The kunoichi wore a standard Sand Jonin flak jacket, fingerless gloves that matched Itami's, and black tights that sat until her knees.

"Well, well, well," she said looking impressed. She had seen the battle that took place and how Itami had single-handedly taken out every ninja despite being at a disadvantage. "It seems that Itami of the Sand has returned."

She gripped her dual-ended scythe tighter, the corners of her mouth twisting up into a grin. "And he has returned with a bang…"

**000**

Yeeessss! I have finally completed my first chapter! Victory! It took me about four days to write the start of the story but as I got close to the end I motored through, I actually enjoyed writing the story. Despite being 4,000 words long I felt that this was a really quick chapter.

Before anyone else points it out, I've found inspiration for Itami from many sources, most notably Bardock, Kratos and Zabuza. I really wanted to create the ultimate badass. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Also, I'll be going on some sort of a hiatus for a number of months, but I really wanna get my stuff sorted out before I can even think of fanfiction. Can you believe that 2013 is officially over (to me that is)! So a Happy New Year from me ;P

Next time, Itami meets up with the Kazekage and that meeting opens up some old wounds.

Don't miss chapter 2: "Meeting with the Kazekage"!

See ya in 2014 :P


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